I walked away with a PR of 4:09:42. Which is great, but I am disappointed because I believe I have it in me to run a faster marathon.
Long version:
I was feeling a bit stressed before this race. My stomach was really bad Friday evening on our flight to Chicago. Then on Saturday my iPod mysteriously disappeared from the table I left it on in the hotel room. (Neil and Bryan went into crisis control mode and bought me a new one and made me a playlist).
At around 2:30 am I woke up from a race-related nightmare and couldn’t really fall back asleep. I got up at 5 am and went through my pre-race routine. Coffee, eat, dress, bathroom. I met my friends Kelaine and Gosha in the hotel lobby and we walked over to the course. (Staying at a hotel walking distance from the start line = awesome). I found the 3:50 pace group and talked with my fellow runners. Before I knew it, we were off.
I have mixed feelings about running with the pace group. For the first 5 miles I was only concerned with keeping the 3:50 sign in view. On the one hand, this got me through the crowded start at goal pace, or slightly faster than goal pace. I also hardly looked at my Garmin. On the other hand, I never got any adrenalin from the crowds because I was so focused on keeping up with them. I also know that for my training runs, I do a lot better (mentally) starting slow and picking up the pace. I think, for me, this would have been a smarter plan. But maybe I would not have been able to speed up during the second half even if I had started slower. Who knows?
At mile 7 I had to stop and fix my shoe. I already felt like something was wrong with me. I didn’t have the usual race day adrenalin and my legs felt heavy. I thought to myself, just make it to mile 12 where Neil, Melissa and Bryan would be and that would boost my mood.
It was also much hotter than I had anticipated. By mile 9 I decided to stop at water stops and dump water on my head. I was wearing my Camelbak and didn’t think I would need to stop so early. While the Chicago Marathon course is gorgeous, it is mostly unshaded. The heat just got worse as I kept running. I saw my cheering squad at mile 11, which was an awesome pick-me-up.
I knew my pace was dropping and I wasn’t in for a 3:50 finish. I crossed the half at 1:58 and thought I could maybe get a sub-four race still, but I continued to slow down as the race went on. For the first time since I’ve started training for marathons I wasn’t sure if I could finish. It wasn’t until I hit mile 18 that I knew I would finish, some way or somehow. At this point, my feet had started hurting too (discovered worst blisters ever post-race) but I knew I had just over an hour or so of running.
I saw my cheering squad again around mile 21-22.
I dug deep and picked up the pace to cross the line at 4:09:42.
I, of course, am very happy to have a new PR. But at the same time, I know I can do better than this and I’m not sure why I missed my goal. After talking to several runners after the race, including my friends, it seems like everyone was slowed down a good twenty minutes by the heat. While that makes me feel better about it, I’ve learned some lessons about this race and training cycle that will hopefully help me in the next marathon.
Lesson two – Nineteen weeks is too long for a training cycle. I can’t help but think I peaked a month too early. I also started feeling training burnout and was less excited for the race. Is this the reason I never got much race day adrenalin?
Lesson three – It is time for me to take a break from races where I put pressure on myself to hit a certain time goal. Between this and the National Half Marathon, I’m letting myself feel disappointed when I should realize that running either of those distances (in a still respectable speed) is an accomplishment on my own.
I also have been battling self doubt because of my training plan. I’m not sure if readers realize, but ever since the stress fracture I only run 3x a week. After reading some articles about getting faster through more mileage, I think it’s time to get over my injury fear and start running more. I don’t know if this will help for the next race, but I can’t let fear of injury hold me back from pushing myself to the next level.
If you’ve made it through this long blog post, I’d like to give you a huge thank you. Thank you to everyone who reads this blog, or left encouraging comments here, through twitter, text message or email. It honestly helped me push through when I wanted to give up yesterday.
A huge thank you to Melissa and Bryan who came all the way from Milwaukee and made this awesome sign. Not only were they awesome spectators but Bryan made me a new playlist when I was about to break into a temper tantrum.
And thank you to Neil. I often think to myself that I couldn’t finish races without his support. But this race he really carried me across the finish line.
Even with a not-so-stellar race, I know I will run more marathons and one day break the 4 hour mark. But for the near future, it’s time for me to put PR-ing on the back burner and run because I love to run.
Congrats on the PR, Liz! I am so sorry the race didn’t go as well as you hoped, though. I’ve always wanted to run Chicago, but it seems like every year the heat is an issue- and I know it would affect my time by at least 20 minutes, too. You’re so awesome for finishing strong though! And it’s amazing you already took away some valuable lessons. I’d love to race without worrying about time, too! I hope we can learn
CONGRATS! You have to take what the day gives you and you stayed in it which is an accomplishment. Could you have run faster? Absolutely. And you will next time. The heat is no joke!
I agree about starting a bit slower. If your goal was 350, starting with the 400 pace group might be something to think about. You can then ditch them and run faster on the back half.
Finally, running more isn’t necessarily the way to get faster/take it to the next level. There’s an opposite theory that running less (but higher quality) does the same thing, and prevents injury in the process. I think it just depends on the person, and what your body responds to. Test it out and see.
Congrats again!
This is exactly what I went through at MCM last year. It’s so frustrating, but I hope in time the joy of finishing another marathon–and of not quitting when it got tough!–outweighs the disappointment. Congratulations!
Congrats on the PR! You finished, you did the best you could on that day. You will rock your next marathon (make sure it’s one in cooler weather!). I love that your hubby ran with you towards the end! So sweet!
wow, 19 weeks IS a long time. I’m congratulating you on the PR even though I can totally understand how you feel right now (probably want to smack anyone who says “girl congrats on the PR whoa!”). if there’s anyone that understands about race-day execution going nuts, it’s me. : but it sounds like you are working through and will get back to running for the love of it. that’s tough. i’m so sorry you didn’t have the day you wanted.
also: we have good husbands.
Great job!!!
I was able to watch the marathon online this weekend. All the commentators kept saying how hot it would be, and that the longer a runner took to finish, the hotter in the day it would be, and the higher the difficulty.
So yes, I agree with you – your time wasn’t as fast because of the heat!
I can imagine it must have been difficult near the end to find the strength to keep going when everyone around you “looked like death.” I need strong-looking people around me to give me motivation!
One day you will make your goal. Don’t give up!
Congrats on the PR! A runner friend and I always talk about no matter our time we always beat ourselves up over our time.
I think the time you really want will come once you run b/c you love it.
My MCM training cycle is way too long and I just realized that 3 weeks out, but at the end of the day I’ll finish and I just try to concentrate on that.
Congrats on the PR. I’m sorry you didn’t have the race that you wanted and trained for. I’m sure the heat had a huge impact on your time. I thought it was bad at Army yesterday and that was less than half of what you were doing. I know I would have had to back way off if I had been running that long.
Congrats on another marathon! As a non-marathoner, I hope you still take away how awesome it is to run any marathon, extra cool to do a big one like Chicago, and even more awesome to set your own record there. I hope that’s what you remember in many years! And I think you should run Dallas or Houston because it’s mild, flat, and a fun big race in the winter.
Great job girl! My very first marathon was Chicago last year and it was almost identical to your scenario. Way to beat that unpredictable weather!
First of all, don’t feel disappointed in that time! That’s AMAZING! In fact, that’s faster than my goal for my upcoming marathon. I mean, you ran a marathon! There’s no reason to be disappointed.
It’s kind of good to hear you felt 19 weeks was too long for training. My training schedule’s 19 weeks also but I’ve had to take off a week or two due to injuries..so maybe it won’t be so bad in the long run.
Liz, congrats on the PR!! Definitely something to celebrate!
Heat is the biggest determining factor (outside of not properly training) in a marathon. When it turns out to be a hot day, there’s really nothing to do but resign yourself to running slower; or push, suffer, and probably blow up. I think you ran smart.
Interesting and thought-provoking observations. 19 weeks does sound like a long time to be training. I can see how you might lose your enthusiasm. I started 2 weeks late on an 18 week training program; hopefully I’ll be right on target.
I don’t use music except in ultras/long runs A) to drown out an annoying conversation I can’t escape or B) in the last third where I find myself alone for many miles (I, too like to start slow, then I pass a lot of folks, but never catch up to others running my pace). I don’t use music aside from that, instead I pay attention to sounds, etc around me and try to really appreciate it all. Just one less thing to worry about not having when batteries die, etc.
Congratulations on the PR Liz!!!!!! I know it can be really disappointing when you don’t meet your time goal, but I hope you are still extremely proud of yourself, like you should be. You ran a freaking marathon!
Awesome job Liz!!!! A PR is always something to be proud of. Take some time to relax and enjoy your hard work over the past 19 weeks. That IS a long ass time!!!!
Liz, first and foremost, congrats on the PR! Regardless of making a time goal, a PR is still a big accomplishment! One of my coworkers ran Chicago yesterday, too, and said it was the worst marathon he’s run due to the heat. One thing I’ve learned from training for MCM this year is that your expectations have to change given the conditions you’re facing. For me, that’s been my lame back injury, but who knows what the weather will be like, and how that could affect the race, too. You finished, which is a huge accomplishment in itself! And I definitely think that deserves some Pete’s!
Congratulations on the PR and running the marathon! The majority of people can’t or won’t ever run a marathon and you’ve done it multiple times. I’m sorry the race didn’t go as well as you wanted but I still think you did awesome. And it’s super sweet that Neil ran part of the race with you!!
Congrats on the PR. I’m sorry the race didn’t go as planned. 19 weeks does seem like a very long time to train. I’ve been training for a half marathon for 14 weeks and I am so burnt out and that’s half the distance!
Oh liz, I totally relate to this post. You have so much to be proud of- running in that excessive heat is no easy feat. But I understand exactly how you feel. It’s a big reason I feel like I need to take some time off. I watched the entire marathon online and I felt that surge to get back out there and run marathons but I know I’m not quite ready. I’m aiming for next fall to get that sub 4. Maybe you’ll join me? I also agree with you about running more than 3x a week. All three of my marathons I ran 3-4X a week and I think the next time I need to take it up a notch and run more and train harder. Just know I think you still did such a fabulous job and you should be so proud of yourself!
What an amazing race Liz. I know you may be a bit disappointed but honestly I think you did completely awesome. it was seriously hot and I just don’t know how you do it. Congrats!!!! I don’t know how you stood up to all that for so long but you rocked it. I am so lucky to have such a wise lady on my side for MCM. I run less like you…we will see how it goes. I think it also matters what cross training you do. I do a ton of a elliptical but even this past month I did more than ever. It freaked me and my body out a bit for sure. Relax now, relish in your big finish. honestly, you did a great speedy job. I am very impressed!
Sorry you didn’t have the race you were hoping for. It sounds like a few things got out of your control, but congrats on sticking it out and even getting a solid PR!
First, CONGRATS on a PR. That (and just running a marathon!) is a huge accomplishment in and of itself. Second, I’ve totally been there before, where you know you were capable of much better, and it sucks to not achieve it. But it doesn’t mean that you can’t or won’t get that time, it just means you learned a few things about what it will take to get there. Seriously, don’t beat yourself up too much, be proud of what you did!
I loved reading your tweets during the marathon and I was really rooting for you! I’m impressed by your time and I bet the next time you run a marathon, you’ll get a sub 4 time.
Great job on pushing your self on what sounded to be a rough race! You should be proud of yourself for finishing 26.2 miles regardless of what is on the clock. You PRed!!! I myself get rapped up on my goal time and sometimes forget to have fun while I’m running .. which is why I’m running it the first place.
First and foremost – congrats on your PR!! I’m sorry the race did not go that well, but to PR under those circumstances is very impressive! It is so hard to run a marathon in that heat, and the fact that you held it together and finished is something to be proud of. That being said, I know how frustrating/disappointing it can be to know that you are capable of more but not get there, especially when you trained so long for it. But that’s the tough thing about marathons – anything can happen on race day. Sometimes everything comes together and other times, it just sucks. I’m really sorry to hear that Chicago was one of those sucky times. BUT – I hope that despite everything, you’re feeling proud of your PR. I think some time off of racing can only help. And I know you’ll get that sub-4 someday!!
It takes a LOT to finish a marathon on a “Good/great!” day, and much more to finish on a tough day. Congrats for crossing this off, and completing the goal! From what I read above, it sounds like you’re bouncing right back and setting your sights on the exciting things up ahead